IPOD GOES TO SCHOOL
CAMPUSES ACROSS US CASH IN ON ONLINE MUSIC CRAZE
The ubiquitous iPod is crossing over from the world of entertainment to the world of knowledge and education. And Apple Computer is
cashing in as campuses nationwide are transforming the gadget into an education tool. Apple is capitalizing on the new craze-iTunes
U-a nationwide service that makes lectures and other materials available online. Campuses across the United States are turning iPod’s
popular iTunes to iTeach even as the Apple wizard is rocking the music and video world. And, while students roam
campuses with the familiar white headphones dangling from their ears, they may well be listening to an analysis of Milton Friedman’s
monetary theory or lessons in biotechnology.
It is not simply making class lectures available online. Students are asked to download
supporting videos for history, geography or the life sciences. This way classes become more engaging as educators find more
strategic uses of the omnipresent iPod. Currently, a joint group of staff and faculty from 5,500 student campuses called the
iDreamers across the United States are looking into new ways of using the technology. iTunes U universities are given server
space on Apple’s iTunes servers on which they can store and distribute audio, video and other education and university related
assets to the student body. The universities release lectures, guest speeches, and locally generated history
and art videos as podcasts using the service. Stanford University and the University of Michigan are among the schools that
already have their own iTunes store just for educational content.
The Mercury News reports that Microsoft meanwhile is designing a
handheld gadget that combines video, games and music. It’s not just intended to battle Apple’s iPod. The company also hopes to
compete with Sony and Nintendo with the product. The design team is led by senior executives from Microsoft's Xbox division, the report claims, including the team leader, system designer and the financial head of the Xbox project .
DIGITAL MEDIA
WHAT BET SHOULD YOU MAKE?
The challenge for executives and innovators
in the media sector is the uncertainty about the choices the consumer will make about products in the future. The way content
is consumed in the future will be drastically different than it is today. It is a complete unknown to some extent what the
most lucrative bet will be in how the content will be distributed and on what device. The answer will be based on consumer’s
willingness to pay based on the functionality and price of different offerings. In music, DVD will offer certain functionality
and there will still be appetite to pay for it. Downloads will have there own place and marketshare. In TV traditional cable
will continue to play a role but Telco Internet providers will take some marketshare away as they begin to enter the HD-TV
set in the living room. Consumers will continue to embrace the mobility feature over reduced experience on cell phones for
all media forms music, film and TV. Gaming will continue to flourish. The trick is to make bets on what the right price will be for the functionality provided.
Consumer Choice = Functionality / Price 
